Longest Operating Restaurants in Palm Springs

While there are a host of great new places to try, there are also some restaurants that have been around for longer than some of us have been alive! These are three of the oldest restaurants in the city.

Melvyn’s – 1975

200 West Ramon Road

Tucked inside the elegant Ingleside Inn, Melvyn’s food hearkens back to the era in which it opened. Steak Diane, wilted spinach salad, and retro desserts like cherries jubilee and crepes Suzette are all menu favorites.

The restaurant was opened by Mel Haber, a businessman who liked to spend summers in California. As part of a $500,000 renovation project at the hotel property, Haber added the eponymous restaurant, Melvyn’s.

The restaurant opened in the fall of 1975, and since then it’s been a favorite of “Presidents, captains of industry, dignitaries and Hollywood’s brightest stars.”

Le Vallauris – 1974

385 W Tahquitz Canyon Way

Housed in one of the desert’s oldest buildings, Le Vallauris was opened by Paul Bruggemans who chose a historic 1927 house known as the Roberson home in downtown Palm Springs. Bruggemans decided to retain the historic home’s original layout of cozy intimate spaces, plus its wide shady patio, which even today is one of the desert’s favourite outdoor spaces.

Serving French food, Le Vallauris’ menu is always handwritten on a board presented to tables on an easel. Food features are fresh and often locally sourced with a French twist.

Las Casuelas – 1958

368 North Palm Canyon Drive.

Serving delicious iconic Mexican food since the middle of last century, not much has changed at Las Casuelas. While the family-owned spot has several newer restaurants in the local chain now, it’s the original restaurant that keeps many locals coming back. “Original Las Casuelas” was the first Mexican restaurant in Palm Springs.

The restaurant is named for an earthenware cooking pot, a “cazuela”. Sharp eyes will notice the restaurant’s name is not spelled the same way.  You can blame a wayward marketing company for misspelling the name on the sign out front, and since it would be costly to replace, the family opted to just keep it.